WLN’s Wiliams runner-up in Heavy Hitters HR Derby

The first lefty of the night Brennan Williams of Walled Lake Northern propelled himself into the finals with a 14 homerun performance. Brennan would eventually go on to take second place in the event and will be attending Eastern Michigan University in the fall.
TIMOTHY ARRICK — Special to the Oakland Press

DETROIT >> For the two left-handed hitters in Thursday’s Muscle Milk Heavy Hitters Home Run Derby, aiming for the Lodge service drive behind the right-field fence had to be less intimidating than Wayne State’s replica Green Monster in left field looming over right-handed hitters.

“It was a lot easier than I thought. I thought it was going to be a lot more difficult to get it out of a college field,” said Walled Lake Northern’s Brennan Williams, a lefty who topped all 10 participants with 14 homers in the qualifying round, and finished second in the finals. “But I was in a groove today — but I guess I wasn’t in as good of a groove as Danny was.”

Plymouth Christian’s Dan Jipping made the 37-foot-tall monster look tame, putting six of his nine homers over the wall in the first round, then an astonishing 20 of 30 over the wall in the direction of I-94 in the finals to easily beat Williams by 19.

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“I was doing BP, and I was thinking ‘Man, that’s going to be a hike.’ You’ve gotta hit it pretty high, and pretty far. It’s pretty awesome to be able to do it. The first swing, I was like ‘Wooh.’ Twenty is just surreal,” said Jipping, who admitted to tiring partway through the final round. “At fourteen. Like I wasn’t tired, but it was just like ‘Can you hit more than this? When are you going to start choking?’

“It really started to get grueling at 20. You’re really trying to poke them out.”

The Eastern Michigan-bound Williams and Central Michigan-bound Jipping will likely be facing off for the next four years in Mid-American Conference play.

It was another player — Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s Luke Shilling — who got the assist on Jipping’s win, giving his friend a call when several players were forced to pull out of the event.

“I got called like two days ago. Luke was in it, and he was giving me the low-down, and when kids dropped out, he put my name in,” Jipping said. “He’s the one that told me ‘Yeah, you’re going to hit one over the monster. That’s it.’ He was just messing with me.”

The highlight of the event for all the players was meeting Tigers All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler, the host of the event, along with State Champs, who gave the 10 participants pointers during batting practice.

“It’s like you’re in shock. You can’t believe he’s right here,” Warren De La Salle’s Hosea Nelson said. “I’ve met a couple of pros, and played in a couple of pro camps, but meeting Ian Kinsler — I’m a big fan of Ian Kinsler. Tremendous.”

“Not too many guys do this for kids like us, and for him to do it is great,” said West Bloomfield’s Dazon Cole, who was drafted by the Atlanta Braves last month — he hasn’t signed yet, with the deadline looming Friday — as well as earning a spot in the East-West All-Star Game last week. “This summer has been wonderful. So many good things have come my way this year, and I’m blessed to have that.”

About the Author

Detroit Tigers beat writer for The Oakland Press in Pontiac, Michigan. Mowery has spent 18 years covering sports, from preps to pros. He’s been honored with more than 25 awards for writing. Reach the author at matt.mowery@oakpress.com
or follow Matthew B. on Twitter: @MatthewBMowery.